Zimbabwe will begin receiving 100MW from Zambia’s state-owned power utility ZESCO early next month under a five-year deal, an official has said.
Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) acting managing director Howard Choga said ZESCO has demanded to be paid first before they deliver the electricity. Said Choga:
We signed power import deals with Zambia a long time ago, but we had not been getting electricity from that country because of cash flow challenges.
Now, because we have prepaid, we expect this to be settled in the coming weeks and we will start receiving 100MW from Zambia. We have to prepay them a month before we receive the electricity.
Choga said a delegation from Mozambique is expected in the country this Sunday to finalise negotiations to supply an additional 150 MW to ease ongoing power cuts.
Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) is currently supplying 50MW to ZESA Holdings. Said Choga:
Currently, we are getting 50MW from Cahora Bassa and 50MW from EDM in Mozambique.
We had signed a deal for 200MW with EDM, but we were only accessing 50MW. So they are sending a delegation into the country tomorrow (today) and they will be in the country for the whole week so we will discuss how we can access the remaining 150MW.
Load shedding has increased in recent weeks due to depressed generation at Hwange and Harare thermal power stations, including the loss of one unit that produces 125MW at Kariba Power Station.
Zimbabwe consumes 2 200MW in winter but the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) is currently producing 1 201MW at its five power stations.
More: The Sunday News